The poll is one of the first to measure the number of
self-identifying atheists in the UK, while previous studies had
simply measured the number of people who believed in
“God” against those who didn’t.

Additionally, the poll found Britons were fonder of Labour leader
Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as a result of
their admission they did not believe in God.

Additionally, the poll found David Cameron’s Anglican faith made
little to no impact on the way voters viewed him, with only 12
percent of identifying Christians claiming the prime minister’s
faith improved their opinion of him.

The poll follows statements by British author and comedian
Stephen Fry, who earlier this month called the idea of God
“capricious,”“mean-minded” and
“stupid.”

“Political leaders would want to avoid polarizing opinion in
that way, but again it’s evidence of a sort that people can
express strongly anti-religious views and receive more applause
than disapproval,” David Voas, professor of population
studies at Essex University, told the Times.

“The mere fact that atheists are more comfortable than
Christians in saying what they are is noteworthy. Certainly
Americans would be astonished to hear that only 10 percent of
British atheists feel uncomfortable telling people their
identity,” he added.

In November, a poll by Huffington Post UK found more than half of
Britons believed religion “did more harm than good,”
with 60 percent of respondents saying that faith “caused more
problems than it solved.”